Saved
by Iremat
Summary: The Sand Siblings are sent in to help Konoha forces retrieve Sasuke. Romance, TemariShikamaru pairing. Please R
1. Foreword and Disclaimer

Foreword to "Saved"

This started as a one chapter project for TemaShika fandom. Currently this is a progress of many chapters, I think. I was waiting for the manga to reveal what happened to Shikamaru's rescue party and although the story was written BEFORE that came out – I did change a few things. However, I didn't change everything. This story is quite Temari-centric (no Duh) and it DOES disagree with the manga, just slightly. Sorry about that, when I wrote it, we didn't know what exactly happened. My only regret for this, is I might have given Temari some skills she doesn't know. I apologize for any mistakes grammar wise, also. But I tried to moderate myself. Anywho. I don't own Naruto, blady blady bla.


	2. New Mission

"Again"  
  
The girl commanded. The small animal sneezed in displeasure. The girl narrowed her eyes and placed her hand on her softly flaring hips.  
  
"Don't start this with me again, Itachi san. AGAIN."  
  
The little weasel shook his head. She sighed and folded her fan.  
  
"Ok. I suppose it could be enough for today. You are SUCH a lazy bum!!"  
  
The animal scurried up her leg and onto her shoulder, nuzzling her face. Temari laughed and started scratching behind its ear.  
  
"Ok, ok. You're not a lazy bum. You're more like a cuddle bug. But still, Itachi san, we need to train."  
  
The weasel made a noise and she looked at him.  
  
"There's NEVER too much training."  
  
She retorted and just for the second her eyes became soft and shiny. She remembered... But she shook her pretty head, framed by four pony tails.  
  
"Itachi san. One last time, please?"  
  
The weasel jumped onto the hot, scorching sand.  
  
"All right Itachi San, SUNABUSHIN NO JUTSU!!"  
  
Suddenly, there were so many weasels that the eye got lost in all the eye patches, and the little coats. Temari grinned. She unfolded her fan, gathered chakra and attacked.  
  
"KIRIKIRIMAI!!!!"  
  
Long after the attack was done, the sand still had the hard time settling down. Temari took a deep breath, wiping her forehead, glistering in the scorching sun. She wasn't hot, just exhorting this much chakra took a lot of effort. Her little animal friend looked positively beat. She bent and picked him up, placing him on her shoulder so he didn't have to follow her all the way home and scratched behind his ear.  
  
"Don't worry. Once we're home...I'll get you a nice meal and a bath."  
  
The weasel made a happy noise. Temari smiled and sighed sadly. These moments weren't frequent, but sometimes this sort of change in moods plagued her. She mounted her fan on her back and began her way home.  
  
It was strange to meet the Anbu guard captain right at the village gates. The boy saw her mile away, and waived. She smiled and waived back.  
  
"Halt!!"  
  
The guard blocked the entrance, glaring at her from the height of his muscular, tall figure at the fragile girl with a fan on her back and a pooped out animal on her shoulder. Temari narrowed her eyes.  
  
"What's wrong with you, Godo?"  
  
She hissed.  
  
"Don't you recognize me?"  
  
The man glared at her. He opened his mouth to reply, but a figure leapt all the way from the height of the gates onto the sand between Temari and the guard.  
  
"That's enough, Godo."  
  
The boy ordered. He turned and bowed to Temari.  
  
"Welcome back home, Temari sama."  
  
Temari's lip curled up in a proud grin. She bowed back.  
  
"Thank you, Ichiro-kun."  
  
"So, what's the big rush?"  
  
She asked him stroking the back of the sprawled out animal on her shoulder, absentmindedly.  
  
"I don't imagine your father all of the sudden took you off duty, just so I can have the pleasure of your company?"  
  
She looked at him and smiled. His face went bright pink.  
  
"Temari-sama.."  
  
Temari waived her hand.  
  
"I know...I know... so...what's the rush?"  
  
Ichiro narrowed his eyebrows.  
  
"Kazekage-sama sent for you. She said it was urgent. You have a mission."  
  
Temari's eyebrow climbed up.  
  
"MISSION? AGAIN?"  
  
She sighed and then groaned in pain.  
  
"What again? WE JUST came back from the Mist country few days ago. Do we even get a few moments to rest? Oh well."  
  
She looked at him.  
  
"I'm not going alone, right?"  
  
Her face expressed worry. He smiled and shook his head, his cheeks still pink.  
  
"Not at all. Gaara-sama, and Kankuro-sama were notified already. They're waiting for you."  
  
Temari sighed again and placed her palm behind her head.  
  
"So, do you know ANYTHING about this mission?"  
  
"It's a rescue mission."  
  
"Oh that's good. What is it THIS TIME??? A kitty from a tree? Because if it is, Yanagi is SO going to get it."  
  
He chuckled.  
  
"Nothing like that, Temari sama. You know Number One Suna team can't be bothered with that. It's an emergency rescue mission for another village."  
  
All of the sudden Temari's face became serious and she stopped.  
  
"Other village? What happened?"  
  
He shook his head.  
  
"I don't know all the details. Kazekage sama will fill you in."


	3. Sabakuno Siblings

A little bit later, Temari and her brothers were standing before the new Kazekage of the Sand. The red headed woman lit up a new cigarette and looked at the three.  
  
"I know, it ain't gunna be easy."  
  
She began.  
  
"But we ain't in the position to choose, ya know. Tsunade sama just informed me 'bout kidnapin' of Uchiha Sasuke by Orochimaru."  
  
At the name "Orochimaru" Temari's fist clenched, but her face remained just as calm.  
  
"A team of genins were assembled, lead by a chuunin."  
  
Yanagi turned and looked at Temari with a smirk.  
  
"'eir names're Uzumaki, Naurto, Akimichi Chouji, Hyuga Neji, Inizuka Kiba and the chuunin in lead Nara Shikamaru."  
  
The girl's face became bright red.  
  
"WHAT??? THAT BUM GOT PROMOTED????"  
  
Yanagi dropped her cigarette. Out of all the possible reactions, THIS one was unexpected. Even Gaara and Kankuro eyed their sister with strange expressions on their faces. Temari groaned in disbelief.  
  
"I CAN"T believe it!!! HE got promoted. Not only that, NOW we have to go SAVE his ass TOO!!! And he's WEARING THE CHUUNIN VEST????"  
  
She rubbed her forehead. Then uttered another deep sigh.  
  
"I swear, those elders in Konoha are a bunch of near sighted morons!"  
  
Yanagi coughed, fruitlessly trying to conceal a smile.  
  
"Temari-chan!!"  
  
Temari frowned, but regained her composure.  
  
"Yes, Kazekage sama."  
  
The three of them bowed their heads and after more briefing, exited the palace.  
  
"What the fuck was that?"  
  
Kankuro looked at his sister, who was traveling between him and his younger brother. Temari made a face.  
  
"I can't believe that BUM!! He's the LAZIEST ninja in the WHOLE DAMN village...Ugh. I mean you, or I, or ANYONE is so much better than Shikamaru and he's a chuunin. I mean...GOD that village is full of morons."  
  
"Be careful where you say that, Temari."  
  
Gaara uttered, forcing his siblings to turn and look at him. Temari nodded.  
  
"Hai. I know. I know."  
  
"Didn't you like... like him or something?"  
  
Kankuro asked her. Temari made an angry face.  
  
"What kind of a stupid question is that?"  
  
She growled at her younger brother. Kankuro snickered, but stopped asking her questions. That could have gone both ways. Usually Temari responded with such a remark when the answer was obvious. He glanced over at her face and wasn't surprised to find slight traces of pink. Her expression was set though. And he knew that expression very well. It didn't forecast anything good for the enemies they were about to encounter.  
  
They traveled for two days, almost non stop. A two hour break they took at the last village didn't count. They needed to let their bodies rest and refuel. The road led up to the forest and then split up. Temari looked at Gaara.  
  
"Gaara..."  
  
The red head nodded. He closed his eye and began forming another one out of sand. Once the creepy creation was complete, the small ball of sand sprouted into the sky, and began hovering above their heads. The moments that Gaara was collecting information seemed so incredibly long. Temari and Kankuro watched his facial expression carefully, trying to guess which way the battle went. Leaf or the Sound.  
  
"Three."  
  
He finally said.  
  
"All of them are ...being pursued...No...Four.."  
  
"Four?"  
  
"Inizuka, Nara, Uzumaki and Lee."  
  
"Lee?"  
  
Temari and Kankuro exchanged glances.  
  
"What about the Sound guys?"  
  
"Two of them I've never seen before. One ..."  
  
Gaara paused.  
  
"Kimmimaro."  
  
Temari and Kankuro exchanged glances for the second time. Something in Gaara's voice told them, he has faced this enemy before, but now wasn't the time to ask these questions.  
  
"What happened to Akimichi and Hyuga boys?"  
  
Temari asked. Gaara looked at his sister.  
  
"They're not there."  
  
Temari furrowed her brows.  
  
"We got here late, but not too late. So...This is how we'll do this..."  
  
"I'm going to fight Kimmimaro."  
  
Gaara stated, still looking at her. It wasn't a question, it wasn't a doubt. It was a statement. Temari mussed her lip for a second then nodded.  
  
"So be it. You take Kimmimaro guy. Who else is left?"  
  
"You take the girl, and you take the other guy, Kankuro."  
  
"Roger."


	4. Nara, Shikamaru

They split. Every second separated them from finding their rescuees alive or stumbling upon their dead corpses. Once her brothers were out of ear shot Temari glanced over the shoulder to catch the last glimpse of them. Then uttered a deep, relieved sigh. Thank god. Shikamaru was alive.  
  
HOW much alive he was.. That was a matter of a whole different nature. Temari bit her lip and uttered a short, hope filled prayer that the boy managed to keep himself relatively in one piece. She then uttered another one to be able to see her brothers after all of this was over and landed on a branch and listened. Gaara gave her a general direction, but Shikamaru and the girl he was fighting against could have been anywhere. She took a few more leaps and landed silently and concentrated. The forest wasn't silent, but the sounds of battle were a lot more different than...  
  
Her eyes shot wide open. THAT way. She picked up and leaping from a branch to branch, she prepared herself for a battle. Not knowing too much about her opponent, she focused all of her energy, all of her mind and will power to in fact be the rescue party. Last branch, and she could see them. Her eyebrows narrowed when the steel tooth of the kunai shone in Tayuya's hand. The fan, flew up like a bird, spreading its wings. Temari grabbed it with one hand and hissed.  
  
"Kamaichi!!"  
  
The tornado unleashed the power of its raw fury on the attacker, and she was knocked picked up and knocked away. Far away, enough to clear the way for Temari to asses the situation. There was another sigh of relief as she realized he was relatively in one piece. Battered, nearly defeated, but in one piece never the less. The other girl didn't expect this help, and neither did Shikamaru to tell the truth. When she landed in front of him, her one hand holding the opened fan and her other resting on her hip, his eyes widened in a surprise. What was she doing here?  
  
Last month of torture under new orders of the Kazekage, and Baki's new plan didn't go unnoticed. Right now, Temari WAS the strongest fifteen year old in the Sand. With a slight smirk on her face, and her weapon in hand Temari felt up to the battle. This was the rush she lived for. She stared at the woman, right above the both of them.  
  
"Freak."  
  
Temari muttered under her breath, eyeing the horns sticking out of the opponent's head.  
  
"I know we've come to the terms with the traitors from the Sand, but... it's hard to believe that you'd turn your tails and run like that."  
  
He spoke. She winced. That was a shot, although a well deserved, below the belt. She made a soft frustrated noise.  
  
"You ungrateful pig."  
  
She thought.  
  
"I should have just let her kill you. Stupid Yanagi."  
  
"We didn't willingly siege the leafs. It was an order. The same sort of a reason why I'm here"  
  
He fell quiet.  
  
"Hey YOU."  
  
She harped, unable to forgive and forget.  
  
"When did you turn into such a dimwit? So now what? Are you going to give up again? Well then, I'm going to finish this myself."  
  
He shifted from one foot to the other.  
  
"Well sorry, no can do. I can't stand being protected by a woman."  
  
Small smirked spread across her lips. Oh yeah. Chuunin vest or not, he was still the same. NOTHING has changed.  
  
"Hah. Still blabbering about that Man Woman crap?"  
  
She responded.  
  
"I can tell that's dutch courage, dim-wit!"  
  
"You're with the Leafs now? A bit indecisive, aren't we?"  
  
The freak creation of nature spoke. Temari made another noise, to which he retorted.  
  
"She controls illusion with her flute."  
  
"Roger."  
  
Horned girl brought the instrument to her lips, getting ready to attack. The sound began seeping off the instrument. Temari furrowed her brow. This was not going to be any fun. The fan turned.  
  
"DAI KAMAITACHI NO JUTSU!!!"  
  
The air roared, attacking the flute and the user. Instrument, snapped in two, as the blades of wind combed the surrounding forest. Temari smirked.  
  
"I'm going to show you why you never had a chance against me, if it wasn't for my father's orders."  
  
She thought to herself with the same smile lingering on her lips. While the mess cleared, their opponent vanished. Temari made a disappointed sound.  
  
"She must be hiding."  
  
He stated.  
  
"Did she run away?"  
  
"Impossible."  
  
He answered her.  
  
"But I just came!!"  
  
She sighed.  
  
"Give me the run down of the current situation and this chick's fighting style."  
  
As she listened to him feed her the information she couldn't stop herself from wanting to smile. There they were, a meeting that was probably not foreseen, and would have never happened if it wasn't for Sasuke's disappearing. She pondered for a moment, if he still remembered what their meetings were like, and those soft kisses they exchanged watching the sun dip below the horizon.  
  
"...if this keeps up sooner or later we'll be forced into a corner. We should retreat for now."  
  
Those words snapped her out of it. HOW DARE HE??? Who did he think she was? Some weak little girl he was used to in Konoha? Those poor little girls that had NOTHING better to do than to hang off the local pretty boy. Didn't he KNOW, that she WAS one of the Three Horrors of Sunagakure. Tch. She so should have let that freaky thing kill him.  
  
"Who the hell asked you for your opinion?"  
  
The blond exploded.  
  
"I simply asked for your explanation of the situation."  
  
He quieted down immediately. Temari brought her thumb to her mouth, biting it all the way down to draw the blood.  
  
"Don't underestimate my power."  
  
She grinned in the same sinister grin her little brother was famous for.  
  
"To think that in front of me... If you think you can hide using the distance of the flute...Well, then you're TOO NAÏVE!!"  
  
The blood smeared across the surface of the fan forced her whole being perk up with excitement.  
  
"KUCHI YOSE.. KIRIKIRI MAIIIIIII"  
  
This wasn't the first time she has done this drill. And it wouldn't be the last. In a few seconds, miles of forest was reduced to piles of lumber, as she stood one of her hands on her hips smirking at the destruction left in her wake. Once the smoke, the noise and the howling wind settled, she gave him a few moments to regain his senses. Then turned around.  
  
"How's that."  
  
The opponent was dead.  
  
"It's over."  
  
He still didn't say anything.  
  
"No problem?"  
  
Temari grinned, as his face relaxed into the same smile she saw a month ago. He fell strength less onto the branch and leaned his back against what was left of the tree trunk.  
  
"Are you hurt?"  
  
She asked, smiling at him.  
  
"No..."  
  
"Good. Lets go then."  
  
She got up. Shikamaru eyed her lazily.  
  
"Give me a moment to rest will you?"  
  
"Moment to rest? From what? I did all the work."  
  
She turned around. He was still sitting.  
  
"Come on, LAZY."  
  
Temari walked over to him, extending her hand in order to help him regain his upright position. Unwillingly he took her palm, but instead of getting up he...  
  
He pulled down on her hand with the force she couldn't believe. Loosing her balance for just a split moment, she regained her composure by falling to her knees. But that wasn't all, while Temari hasn't recovered from the initial surprised, he leaned up and their lips locked.  
  
She blinked, her mind catching up with the events. Then gently wrapped her hands around his shoulders, in the battered, chuunin vest and leaned closer to him, deepening the kiss.  
  
Yes.  
She has missed him too.


End file.
